Deming Jarves

Deming Jarves
Born	21 November 1790
Died	15 April 1869  (aged 78)
Occupation	Glassmaker
Children	James Jackson Jarves
Parent(s)	John Jarves  Hannah Seabury

Deming Jarves (1790–1869) was a 19th-century American glass manufacturer in Massachusetts. He has been called the "father of the American glass industry". Jarves joined the glass industry in 1809 when he, with a group of investors, gained control of the window glass company Boston Crown Glass. During the War of 1812, American glass manufacturers lost access to high–quality sand and red lead, which was an essential ingredient for high–quality glass. After the war, British manufacturers began dumping low–priced glass in the United States. This caused many American glass manufacturers, including Boston Crown Glass, to go out of business. In 1818 Jarves and an investor group founded the New England Glass Company, where Jarves researched ways to produce red lead using domestic sources. By 1819 he was producing red lead, which enabled the production of better quality glass.

Glassmakers kept their methods secret, meaning a group of glassmakers could leave a company and cause it to end operations. Jarves smuggled glassmaking talent from Europe to Boston, and kept a book of various glass recipes. This ended the threat from glassmakers leaving the company. He also worked to improve technology such as improving the efficiency of his furnaces that used wood as a fuel source. He worked with molds and was an early user of pressed glass machines. Jarves found the Boston & Sandwich Glass Company, which became famous for its pressed glass. By 1835, Jarves had caused significant changes to the American glassmaking industry, and his Boston & Sandwich Glass Company was known world–wide.